Casa Grande’s John Porchivina (42) fends off Montgomery Ke’shawn Walker (1) en route to a 3-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter of Saturday’s NCS Division 2 semifinal in Petaluma. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)

Scoring four touchdowns and playing shutdown defense in the second half defines putting away an opponent as Casa Grande did in defeating Montgomery to reach the section title game.

Ahead by just a point after two quarters, Casa Grande continued making big plays on offense and stifled Montgomery’s stout run game to take control.

Powering the Gauchos was John Porchvina, who had five scores including returning an interception for a touchdown in the 42-13 win.

“We were never down, but Montgomery was tough. It made for a fun game,” Porchivina said. “We just lit a fire under us and got after it.”

After answering Casa Grande throughout the first half, Montgomery couldn’t carry that momentum into the final two periods.

The keys for Montgomery all season — grinding out yards and sure tackling — were missing too often in the decisive stretches.

“It’s not how we wanted it to end,” said linebacker Henry Stelzner. “You’ve got to look back at the year and it was just an awesome experience.”

With the win Casa Grande remains undefeated going into the North Coast Section Division 2 championship contest against Miramonte on Saturday at Rancho Cotate. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Keeping alive the goal to bring home Casa Grande’s first section football championship demanded ample Gauchos grit against resurgent Montgomery.

While the Gauchos handled the Vikings in their North Bay League contest, the section semifinal figured to be a greater challenge.

“We knew we would get a physical game. The second half we just picked it up,” said Casa Grande quarterback JaJuan Lawson.

The running attack has been wearing down opponents all year, even more so in the Montgomery game.

Opening the second half with a scoring drive, Casa Grande ran for all 83 yards with four different backs getting touches including Cody Hughson on the 33 yard touchdown.

Forcing Montgomery to punt without gaining a first down, Casa Grande then went 69 yards in a dozen plays with all but two runs.

The big play was a 16-yard scamper by Lawson on a fourth-down conversion. Porchivina would later score from 3 yards out.

PDPreps: VIDEO REPORTS

The Elsie Allen High School football team has not won a game since September 2013. After a rough spring which saw a newly hired coach resign, new coach Bill Wight is hoping to inspire the Lobos to more winning ways.

Reporting scores to The PD

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